Talks between Zelensky, Putin may take place in coming days - Podoliak

According to Ukrinform, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said this in an interview with American public broadcaster PBS.

"The only option to end this war is direct talks between the two presidents, and that is what we are working on with these peace talks. We are working on documents that the presidents will be able to discuss further and sign," he said.

According to Podoliak, this will happen soon, "because this is the only way to end this war."

"We have much confidence that we will have a ceasefire in the coming days," he added.

The Russians have used all of their resources that they were planning to use in this war, Podoliak said.

"They were planning to move in their troops, capture as much territory as possible in three days, and basically have a blitzkrieg. They did not do that, and they will not do that. They are stuck fighting in their current positions, and they have no chances whatsoever to move further into Ukrainian territory," Podoliak added.

Initially, Russia issued ultimatums, hoping that the propaganda and disinformation they had been using for eight years would work, but this did not happen, Podoliak added.

"So, this has been a wakeup call for them, and their position has softened significantly," he said.

The war with Russian invaders has been going on in Ukraine since February 24.

Between February 24 and March 16, Russian troops lost 430 tanks, 1,375 armored fighting vehicles, 190 artillery systems, 70 multiple launch rocket systems, 43 air defense systems, 84 aircraft, 108 helicopters, 819 vehicles, three ships/boats, 60 fuel tankers, 11 tactical UAVs, and ten special vehicles.